The world today is in a period of great development, change and adjustment, as well as an era of endless challenges and increasing risks. The reality of world economic development has led people to think deeply: what is the reason for the huge differences in the operating effects of market economy in different countries? The practice of China's reform and opening up shows that although the operation effect of market economy is influenced by the national conditions and cultures of different countries, it fundamentally depends on their ability to control the system. China has successfully harnessed and developed the market economy by taking advantage of the socialist system, and has made remarkable development achievements.
System control ability is the fundamental guarantee to effectively play the role of market economy
Market economy itself does not necessarily bring economic prosperity, national prosperity and people's happiness. A country's ability to control its system is the fundamental guarantee to effectively play the role of market economy. Different from western countries and some developing countries, China has given full play to the advantages of the socialist system and successfully developed the socialist market economy, thus constantly promoting economic and social development and promoting the prosperity of the country and the happiness of the people.
The constant economic crisis and stagnation in the development of the world economy make people gradually find that the market economy itself, as an economic operation mechanism, is neutral, and the ineffective market economy is not only bad, sometimes even horrible. After experiencing the experience and lessons that market economy may promote growth and prosperity, and may also lead to crisis and depression, western countries have generally believed that they have understood the basic laws of market economy development, and have constrained and corrected the defects of market economy itself through government regulation and intervention. However, the international financial crisis in 2008 exposed the excessive pursuit of profits by financial capital, the fundamental conflict between financial capital and the overall interests of society, and the serious lack of government supervision, which forced western countries to re-examine whether the system they used to control the market economy was as perfect as they thought. The S&P report at the beginning of 2017 showed that the global sovereign credit rating has shown a moderate downward trend since the outbreak of the international financial crisis. To some extent, this shows that the ability of most countries to deal with market risks and control the market economy is weakening, while the global economic uncertainty caused by the operation of the market economy is increasing. Obviously, the topic of how to control the market economy in the world has not ended, and countries are still committed to reflecting on and exploring the path of controlling the market economy under their own different institutional frameworks. In the face of the uncertainty of the global economy, what really needs to be changed is the different institutional systems behind the market economy. Which system has more advantages and can better control the market economy, which country is more likely to effectively respond to economic risks and win the initiative in international competition.
Since the reform and opening up, our party and government have been deepening their understanding of the market economy. At the 15th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, it was proposed to "make the market play a fundamental role in resource allocation under national macro-control", at the 16th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, it was proposed to "give greater play to the fundamental role of the market in resource allocation", and at the 17th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, it was proposed to "give better play to the fundamental role of the market in resource allocation from the system", At the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, it was proposed to "play the fundamental role of the market in resource allocation to a greater extent and in a wider range", and at the Third Plenary Session of the 18th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, it was proposed to "make the market play a decisive role in resource allocation". On the basis of constantly emancipating our minds and deepening our understanding, our Party has unswervingly promoted market-oriented reform with great political courage and historical responsibility, and has constantly improved its ability to control the market economy. At the same time, our Party has always maintained a high degree of theoretical awareness of the market economy itself. Comrade Xi Jinping pointed out that developing the market economy under socialist conditions is a great initiative of our Party. One of the key factors for the great success of China's economic development is that we have brought into play the advantages of both the market economy and the socialist system. We are developing the market economy under the leadership of the Communist Party of China and the socialist system. We should never forget the attribute of "socialism". The reason why it is a socialist market economy is to adhere to the superiority of our system and effectively guard against the drawbacks of the capitalist market economy. This important statement profoundly clarifies that market economy, as an economic operation rule and resource allocation mechanism, must play a role within the basic institutional framework of a country, and its effectiveness must be evaluated according to its effectiveness in serving the national development goals. The essence of the socialist market economy is to realize the effective connection between the socialist system with Chinese characteristics and the general market operation mechanism. The vitality of the socialist market economy also lies in giving full play to the advantages of the socialist system and the ability to control both.
The success of China's reform and opening up is the best interpretation of using the socialist system to develop the market economy
The development effect is the final test of a system's ability to control the market economy. After 40 years of reform and opening up, China has transformed from a closed and semi closed planned economy country into an all-round open socialist market economy country, from a country plagued by poverty to a developing country with the world's second largest economy and rising people's living standards. It can be said that China's great achievements since its reform and opening up are the best interpretation of improving and developing the socialist system with Chinese characteristics, using institutional advantages to control the market economy, and making the market economy effectively serve the realization of the Chinese dream of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.
Emancipating and developing productive forces is the essential requirement of socialism. The fundamental manifestation of the superiority of the socialist system is that it can liberate and develop the social productive forces at a speed not available under other systems, and constantly improve the people's living standards and the comprehensive strength of the country. In the great exploration of adhering to and developing the cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics, China gives full play to the advantages of the socialist system, establishes and improves the socialist market economic system, improves the quality and efficiency of economic development, and maintains sustained and healthy economic development. The key to the great achievements of reform and opening up is to adhere to giving full play to the role of the market in resource allocation within the framework of the socialist system.
At the initial stage of reform and opening up, there was no ready-made experience for reference and no fixed model to follow when implementing market economy reform in socialist countries. On the premise of adhering to and developing socialism with Chinese characteristics, we have adopted the political wisdom of "crossing the river by feeling the stones" and the gradual reform strategy. The government has gradually reduced the economic management method of using planned allocation of resources, and constantly injected market vitality into the economic operation. In practice, the understanding of the development law of the socialist market economy has been deepened, and the reform direction of establishing and improving the socialist market economy system has finally been established. In the process of eliminating the drawbacks of the original system and actively exploring the direction of market-oriented reform, we always adhere to the leadership of the Communist Party of China, attach great importance to handling the relationship between reform, development and stability, find a balance point where the three promote each other and complement each other on the premise of maintaining stability, and promote sustainable and healthy economic and social development. In contrast, the practice of blindly pursuing the ideal results under the so-called ideal market conditions, believing that the concept and model of balanced economic development can be achieved as long as the market mechanism plays its role freely, and rejecting and denying the role of the state and the government in the formation of the market system from the very beginning, often leads to the unsmooth transformation and convergence of the new and old systems, and a system vacuum, This will lead to economic collapse, political turmoil and even social unrest. This is evident in the transition process of the Soviet Union and the socialist countries in Eastern Europe. After experiencing setbacks and even disasters, many countries have learned from their mistakes and begun to re emphasize the importance of promoting the sound development of market economy through institutional supply.
After the socialist market economic system has been basically established, optimizing the operation of the market economy and the allocation of resources has become an important task of reforming and improving the economic system. The Asian financial crisis in 1997 and the international financial crisis in 2008 have had a greater impact and impact on China, which has established a market economic system and gradually integrated into the world economic system. This is the "double-edged sword" effect of market economy, which brings high efficiency and high growth, and inevitably has negative effects. It is a test of the effectiveness of government regulation and the superiority of national systems. The lessons of Latin American countries in the middle-income trap and Greece in the sovereign debt crisis show that indulging in the profit seeking behavior of financial capital, ignoring the construction of regulatory systems, catering to or relying on populism will inevitably lead to the weakening of the ability to control the market economy and the inability to make strategic choices conducive to long-term economic development. In the process of coping with the impact of the Asian financial crisis and the international financial crisis, China made full use of its institutional advantages to reasonably expand domestic demand, effectively reduce the impact of external economic shocks on its own economy, and demonstrated its superb ability to control the market economy and respond to economic crises. This shows that in a modern market economy country, the government's macro-control and necessary intervention in the economy are common practices, and the essential attributes and advantages of a country's fundamental system are the decisive factors to ensure that the regulation and intervention can achieve the desired effect.
Give further play to the advantages of the socialist system in the new era
The great achievements we have made since the reform and opening up fully demonstrate the superiority of our socialist market economy system, but this does not mean that the socialist system and market economy have achieved a perfect combination. In the new era, facing the complicated economic situation at home and abroad, we should strengthen the "four self-confidence" and give better play to the advantages of the socialist system. Internationally, the future international competition is ultimately the competition of national systems. The differences in political and economic systems and national governance capabilities of various market economy countries will directly determine their ability to cope with complex market environments, and determine their overall economic performance and comprehensive competitive advantages. For China, which actively leads the new type of economic globalization and actively participates in global governance, better playing its institutional advantages, enhancing its national and global governance capabilities, and controlling and developing the market economy will also make China's contribution to solving the world economic problems and promoting the development of the world economy. Domestically, if China's economy is to achieve the goal of maintaining medium to high speed growth and promoting high-quality development, it needs to comprehensively deepen reform and form an institutional mechanism and development mode to promote high-quality development. In the new era, the key to harnessing and developing the socialist market economy by taking advantage of the essential attributes and unique advantages of the socialist system with Chinese characteristics and realizing the "two centenary goals" and the Chinese Dream of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation is to focus on the following points.
We will continue to focus on the people and better improve and develop the system of socialism with Chinese characteristics. Adhering to the people as the center is the fundamental guarantee that the socialist system with Chinese characteristics will always radiate strong vitality and maintain long-term superiority. To give full play to our institutional advantages and better promote the development of the socialist market economy, we must adhere to the people as the center, improve and develop the socialist system with Chinese characteristics through comprehensive deepening of reform, and promote the modernization of the national governance system and capacity.
We will take political advantages as a guide to better promote economic restructuring. An important prerequisite for China to develop a socialist market economy is to adhere to the leadership of the Communist Party of China. Adhering to the leadership of the Party and giving full play to the leading core role of the Party in taking overall responsibility and coordinating all parties is an important feature of China's socialist market economy system and an important basis for ensuring that the socialist system has strong mobilization and efficient implementation capabilities. The close unity of the whole Party and the people of all ethnic groups around the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core is the fundamental guarantee for the government to play a better role and an important foundation for the sound development of the socialist market economy.
Take the construction of the rule of law as the guarantee, and better promote the market to play a decisive role in resource allocation. Making the market play a decisive role in resource allocation and giving better play to the role of the government is a major theoretical innovation of our party in improving the socialist market economic system. To properly handle the relationship between the government and the market and remove many institutional barriers that affect the effective functioning of the decisive role of the market, we need not only the determination and courage to break our swords, but also the guarantee of relevant system construction. Socialist market economy is essentially a rule of law economy, and the economic activities of market subjects need to be carried out in a fair and transparent legal environment. This requires comprehensively promoting the rule of law, using the rule of law to regulate market behavior, and creating a fair market environment for competition.
With effective governance as the goal, we will better play the role of the government. Scientific macro-control and effective government governance are the internal requirements for giving play to the advantages of the socialist market economy system. Effective government governance is not about going beyond the boundaries to manage what the market should manage, nor what it cannot manage, but about respecting market rules and doing what it should do well. The government should speed up the transformation of its functions, constantly innovate the system and mechanism, break through the barriers of interest consolidation, and form a more mature and complete system and mechanism in economic regulation, market supervision, social management, public services, ecological environment protection, etc.
(The author is vice president and professor of Dongbei University of Finance and Economics)
